Pressure controller



: Aug. 24 1926.

1,597,455 E. F. MILLS PRESSURE CONTROLLER Original Filed D90. 4, 1916 IN VEN TOR.

A TTORNE Y;

Patented Aug. 24, 1926.

UNITED STATES r 1,597,455 PATENT, OFFICE,

ED'WABD FRANK HILLS, F LYNN, MASMCHUSETTS," ASSIGNOR TO A. SOH RADE BS SON, INQ, 0F BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, A CORPORATIQN OF NEW YORK.

rnnssoan con'rnonmn.

implication filed December 4, 1016, Serial lio. 184,836. Renewed April '16, 198B. Serial li o. 558,078;

This invention relatesto apressure controller or instrument'and has for its object to provide a simple, and exceedingly sensitive and accurate instrument with which a upredeterminedor desired pressurein a receptacle-may be obtained. The instrument employed or obtaining a predetermined or desired pressurein automobile tires.

To this end, .the instrument is provided with a piston and valve operatively connected together to move as one piece, and

preferably made as a piston which cooperates with an outlet port'to function as a valve. 1 The piston valve is normally closed by a spring which has cooperating with it "means-for increasingor decreasing the pressure of the spring on said piston valve, and also has cooperating with it'means for removing the pressure of the spring from the piston valve under conditions and for a I purpose was will be described;

, and othen features of this invention will be Provision 1s made .for rendering impulses of the fluid pressure ineffective to'open the piston valve as will be described. These .pointed out in the claims at the end. of this specification.

80 or controller embodying this invention.

Figure 2, an elevation of the instrument f shown'in Figure 1.

Figure 3, a vertical section o' f.the instrument shown in Figure 1, the section being taken on theline' 1 Figure 4, a section with the piston; valve in its 0 n positionand'the spring locked in its ine ective position.

pressure an its other end 16 connectedwith' the inner tube of an automobile tire. The

cylinder *6 is provided with a fluid outlet 74, Fig

port '18, see Fig. 4, leading to the outside of the cylinder, and contains a valve 19 which cooperates with said port to open and close the same. The valve 19 is secured to or forms part of a piston 20 located in the I cylinder 6, and said valve is represented as is especiall' adapted among other uses to be ameter than the port 14 into which the pin extends when the valve ,19 is closed. The piston 20 has cooperating with it a disc 22 of larger diameter than the said piston and located in the casing a. The disc 22 sup ports a tube 23 which inturn supports at 1ts upper end a disc or head '24, which is provided as shown with a hub 25, t0 the exterior of which is fastened in any suitable manner, the upper end of a helical spring 26. The-lower end of the, spring 26 is an- I chored'to a device located on theoutsideof' the casing a," and as herein shown said spring is fastenedin any suitable manner a pin 28 with a collar 29 capable ofsliding on the outside of the casing a. The pin 28 is extended through slots 3031 in the tube 23 and casing a, and the collar 29 bears against a collar 30. in threaded engagement with the outside of the casing a.

By turning the collar 30" on the casing (z, the spring 26 can be elongated as will be described'so as to increase or decrease the tensionon the spring, for a purpose as will to a tubular head 27 which is connected by Figure'l, is a plan view ofan instrument b'edescribed. The upper end of the spring 26 is normally free to move under the influenceof fluid pressure admitted into the 7 cylinder 6 through the ports1314 and acting against the piston 20, and provision is made for anchoring said free end fora purpose as will be described.

a 10'0 In the present instance the hub 25 supports apin "35, which forms a. pivot for a lever .36, which is extended'through a slot 37 in the headc, and is provided as herein shown with a ball 38 serving as a handle for the lever 36, which latter isprovided with'a notch 39 in one edge and opposite .saidi notch. with a bulge 40 on the other edge. The notch 39 forms'a tooth 41 which is designed to engage theouter surface of cylinder 6 which is the same as that in the the head 0 as represented in Fig. 6 and is at such time anchored at both ends, and

the pressure of the spring is removed from the tube 23 and the piston 20, which is advantageous as will be described.

The tube or nipple 12 is provided within it with the well-known Schrader valve commonly used in connection with the inner tubes of automobile tires, and comprising essentially a stem 50 on which is mounted a rubber valve 51, which. closes the outer end of the tube or nipple against air pressure passing through the nipple, until the valve" 51 is removed from its seat 52 by pressing upon the outer end of the valve stem 50, which is efi'ected when th nipple 12 is coupled with the pump or other source of fluid pressure or which may be efiected by the operator.

The instrument is capable of being used for controlling the amount of pressure pumped into the tire and when so used, the end 15 of the nipple or tube 12 is connected with the pump or other source of supply and the end 16 is connected with the tire. The pin 50 is preferably of sufficient length to normally unseat the tire valve when the coupling 16 is connected tothe valve casing. The spring 26 is normally anchored at its upperend againstmovement in one, direction by member 25 and is placed under the desired or required tension according to the pressure it is desired to supply to the tire, by turning the collar 30 on the casing until the collar 29 to which the opposite end of the spring is 'connected andwhich acts as an indicator,

registers with the graduation on the scale 60 on the outsid of the casing a, which is indicative of the predetermined or desired pressure. For instance let it be assumed that it is desired to supply the tire with 80 lbs. pressure. In this case, the indicator 29 is moved to the number 80. on the scale, which causes the spring 26 to hold the piston valve 19 closed until the pressure in the tire reaches 80 lbs., whereupon an increase in pressure above the 80 lbs. in the tire, acts on the piston '20 and moves the latter from substantially the position shown in Figure 3 into that shown in Figure 4, so as to open the relief port 18 and alf low thepressure supplied by the pump to pass to the atmosphere, and thereby prevent the tire being supplied by the pump with a pressure inexcess of the desired or predetermined pressure. When the piston 20 is moved by the air pressure as "described, the upper end of the spring 26 is moved through the disc 22 and tube 23, and the locking lever 36 is moved out through the slot 37 until the tooth 41 clears the upper edge of the said slot, whereupon a spring 42 throws the lever 36 into its looking position with the tooth 11 engaging the outer surface of the head a of the easing. At such time the tube 23 and piston 20 are relieved from spring pressure tending to close the relief valve, consequently the latter remains locked in its open position and cannot close until unlocked by the operator. As a result, the pump is prevented from supplying .the tire with an exoessive pressure. g

The gauge herein shown is especially useful when the tir is to be supplied with air from a source of high pressure, as the opening of the tire valve makes the tube 12 practically an extension of the tire valve, and-consequently the small volume of high pressure which passes by the valve 51 into the tube 12 and into the tire, is reduced, and the pressure of the air on the side of the valve 51 next to th tire is reduced to the same amount as that in the tire and is gradually built up to the point at which the spring 26 is set for the relief valve to open.

As a result, the relief valve of the gauge is prevented from being opened by th high pressure on the inlet side of the tube 12 before the pressure in the tire reaches the proper amount.

The instrument is also capable of being used for reducing the pressure in the tire to a predetermined or desired amount. To illustrate let it be supposed that the tire has been supplied with 80 lbs. pressure in the garage and that after a run say of 50 or tire has increased considerably over the 80 lbs. and that the driver or owner of the car desires toreduce the pressure to 80 lbs. In this case, the driver first se the instrument to 80 lbs. by turnin the collar 30 to bring the. indicator 29 to t e 80 mark on the scale 60. He then applies the end 16 of the nipple to the tire valve nipple whereupon the pin 50 unseats the tire valve and the pressure in the tire passes into the cyl1n der 1) and acts on the piston 20 to open the relief valve 19 and allows the pressure to be reduced to 80 lbs. During this operation, the operator holds the lever 36 in its unlocked position, shown in Figure 5, so that, as soon as the pressure in the tire has-been reduced to 80 lbs, the spring 26 will act to close the 'reliefvalve 19 and thereby again establish in the tire the desired pressure.

The instrument may also be used to ascertain the amount of pressure-in thetire.

In this case'the operator adjusts'the -in strument'to say 100 lbs. and applies it to the tire, the tire valve being opened by the valve stem 50; In this case the pressure flows from the tire into the cylinder 6, and if it is less than 100 lbs. the relief valve will not be opened. The operator then turns the collar 30 back until the tension on the spring 26 has been reduced so that the pressure acting on the piston moves the latter and through the tube 23 and head 24 moves the lever 36 out into its locking position, the operator then knows that the pressure in the tire corresponds to that indicated by the instrument, to wit, the amount on the scale 60 with which the indicator 29 registers. At this point the instrument is to be disconnected from the tire valve to. prevent loss of air pressure from the tire.

It will therefore be seen, that with an instrument embodying this invention and such as herein shown, it is possible to provide the tire or other receptacle with a predetermined pressure, and also to reduce an excessive pressure to a predetermined pressure, and further to ascertain or determine the pressure in the tire or other receptacle. The

pin 21 is preferably employed so that when the relief valve 19 is closed, the pin is extended into the port 14, and thesaid' pin is made somewhat'smaller than the said port so as to allow a restricted flow of fluid pressure into the cylinder as lon as the relief valve remains closed. In'th1s manner the relief valve is protected from sudden impulses or blows of the fluid pressure which might be suflicient to open the valve. The

'pin 21 on the other hand is made short enough to be entirely removed from the port 14 when the relief valve is opened, so as to provide for a free and unobstructed flow of the excess pressure.

The slot 37 is elongated to one side of the center and when the spring 42 acts, it throws the lever 36 into line with the piston. I have herein shown one construction of apparatus embodying the invention but it is not desired to limit the invention-to the particular construction shown.

Claims: 1. In a fluidipressure gage, in combination, a casing provided with a cylinder having a fluid outlet port, and a fluid inlet port,

a piston in said cylinder, means carried by said piston for partially closing the way through said passage, a valve connected with said piston and controlling said outlet port, and a spring to act on the 'pistonin opposition to pressure admitted into the cylinder from said fluid passage.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

EDWARD FRANK ILLs- 

